Designing for Auto

UI Guidelines

Android Auto provide a standardized user interface and user interaction
model that works across vehicles. As a designer, you do not
need to worry about vehicle-specific hardware differences. This page
describes some of the key screens that users will encounter in the
Auto user interface. To dive deeper into how to design for
the Auto user interface (UI), see the Auto UI guidelines in the sidebar.

Important: Google takes driver distraction
very seriously. There are specific design requirements your app must meet to
qualify as an Auto app on Google Play. By adhering to these
requirements, you can reduce the effort for building and testing your app. For
more information, see Auto App Quality.

Overview Screen

When users first connect their Android device to the car, they are presented
with the Overview screen. This screen displays contextual cards based on the
user’s location, time of day, and so on. The user can also use this screen to view
notifications from their messaging apps and select a message to send a response
by voice input.

Figure 1. The Overview screen may show contextual cards and
new messages.

Audio App Launcher

Tapping on the headphones icon in the Activity Bar lets the
user see all audio apps installed on the user’s handheld device and select
one of them from a scrollable list.

Figure 2. The audio app launcher shows available audio apps.

Primary App UI

After the user selects an audio app, the display shows the primary app UI.
Auto presents the app in a standardized UI, but you can customize
this UI to show your own icons, app name, and background images
(such as the album art).

Figure 3. Generic audio app UI.

Figure 4. Example of the Google Play Music app UI.

User Actions

The media control card in the primary app UI supports up to four main actions,
four auxiliary actions on the overflow bar, and the Return action. You can
use standard controls and customize the actions and icons.

Figure 5. Example of user actions in the Google Play Music app.

Drawer List

For browse actions, the display shows the drawer transition. After the
transition from the primary app UI to the list UI, the drawer appears in the
center. The customized list UI shows the media containers and the audio files
provided by the media service in your app. You can also customize drawers with
icons for list items.